Eaves forming member



1 c. HENNING EAVES FORMING MEMBER Original Filed Oct. 2'7, 1938 l Z m 0 3 w 3 h m 9 2 A u L 4 .m F R m w 2 wll a 9 m 2 w a Carl Henmng ATTORNEY Patented Feb. 4, 1941 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 2,230,249 EAVES FORMING MEMBER Carl Henning, Kansas City, Mo., assignor to Andrew A. Kramer, Kansas City, Mo.

8 Claims.

My invention relates to metal building structures, and more particularly to an eaves-forming member used in wall construction for metal houses, this being a division of my application for patent on Wall construction for metal houses,

Serial No. 237,249, filed October 27, 1938.

It is a purpose of my invention to provide a wall for metal buildings, which comprises wall panels and columns that alternate with each other and all of which are made of sheet metal, with eaves-forming members which constitute locking members for elements making up the wall, so as to hold said columns and panels in interlocking relationship, said eaves-forming members and said columns and panels being provided with means thereon that interlock, and with means for clamping the eaves-forming members to said columns and panels to hold the elements of the wall in firmly interlocked relationship.

It is a further purpose of my invention to provide eaves-forming members that act as means for connecting the wall forming elements and the roof of the building, and which constitute means for supporting the roof of said building, as well as for supporting gutter members.

Other objects and advantages of my invention will appear as the description of the drawing proceeds. I desire to have it understood, however, that I do not intend to limit myself to the particular details shown or described, except as defined in the claims.

In the drawing:

Fig. 1 is a vertical transverse sectional view through my improved eaves-forming member for sheet metal buildings.

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary sectional view of the upper portion of a column constituting part of the wal1 of a sheet metal building and of my improved eaves-forming members, showing the same interlocked therewith.

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary vertical sectional view through the upper portion of a wall panel member and my improved eaves-forming member, showing the same interlocked therewith, and

Fig. 4 is a vertical longitudinal sectional view through a portion of the top part of the wall and the lower portion of my improved eavesforming member.

Referring in detail to the drawing, my improved eaves-forming member comprises a lower transverse portion made up of a horizontal wall portion I Q, forming a flange directed inwardly t am h r ica 11i! ch mt s ne side cf d p nd n bel r b. e r e e r ea having a bottom transverse wall I2, which is provided with an opening l3 and from which the vertical wall portion M, of the same height as the Wall ll, extends to the transverse wall portion I5, said Wall portion [5 being integral with 5 the vertical side wall I 6 of the eaves-formin member, which is provided with a laterally outwardly offset upper end portion I! connected with the vertically extending portion It, by means of the horizontal ledge portion H3. The 10 side wall thus constitutes a lower vertical portion l6 and an upper vertical portion I1 offset therefrom and connected by the portion l8. From the upper edge of the portion l! the inwardly and upwardly inclined roof supporting portion I9 extends. The eaves-forming member thus constitutes a vertical wall portion with an offset therein, a bottom transverse wall portion having a depending hollow rib, or channel formation, thereon, and a top Wall portion that is inclined upwardly from the vertical side wall portion.

A gutter member 20 of any desired configuration provided with straps 2| for bracing the same, and having an inner wall 22 engaging face to face with the vertical wall I6, is provided on the eaves-forming member whenever desired, being, preferably, welded to the wall portion IS. The inclined top wall l9 supports any suitable roofing members 23, which are secured thereto by suitable fastening elements, such as the bolts 24 and nuts 25. It will be noted that the upwardly and inwardly inclined member I9 extends inwardly from the side wall l6 substantially the same distance as the flange portion 10 of the bottom wall of the eavesforming member.

The hollow rib formation on the bottom wall of the eaves-forming member is provided for interlock-ingly engaging with columns and wall panel members. While the columns may be varied somewhat in contour and construction, and while only one column is illustrated in the drawing, it is to be understood that the eaves-forming member is interlocked with intermediate and corner columns, which may vary somewhat in details of construction. However, all said columns have a box-like body portion having the vertical walls 26 and 2'! and a top Wall having the transverse portion 28, which is depressed below the top edges of the walls 21 and at least one of the walls 26, in the case of a corner column, and the opposite walls 26 in an intermediate column, are notched, or cut out, so as to receive a hollow rib formation made up of the portions I I, I2 and I4 of the eaves-forming member, so as to snugly fit therein, the wall I2 engaging face to face with the transverse wall 28, said wall 28 being provided with a substantially U-shaped keeper member 29, extending through the opening I3, with which a wedge 30 cooperates to clamp the hollow rib portion within the channel thus formed in the column. In the form of the invention shown in Fig. 2, the top wall of the column is provided with an upper transverse portion 3| at each side of the depressed portion 28, connected therewith by means of the vertical wall portions 32, thus forming a channel in the top wall of the column corre-- sponding to the hollow rib on the eaves-forming member and receiving said hollow rib snugly. It will be noted that the outer wall of the column comprises a member 21 and a member 21' in face to face engagement and that the wall portion I6 aligns with the outer wall member 21' of the column, and that the wall portion I5 of the eaves-forming member engages with one of the wall portions 3| and the flange I!) with the other wall portion 3|.

Said eaves-forming member similarly cooperates with wall panel members having wide grooves receiving the hollow rib portions in the top walls thereof. Such a wall panel is shown in Fig. 3, said wall panel having an outer wall 33, to which the upstanding flange 34 on the channel, or groove forming member, having the bottom wall 35, is mounted, said channel, or groove, being completed by the vertical wall portion 36 forming part of a groove for receiving an insulating board member 31 forming part of said wall panel. A U-shaped retaining, or keeper, member 29 is provided on the transverse bottom wall 35 of the channel, or groove, formed in the top of the wall panel, which is identical with the member 29 shown in Fig. 2, and with which a wedge 30 cooperates in the same manner as previously described, the wall I2 on the eavesforming member engaging face to face with the bottom wall 35 of the groove and the wall portions I4 and II being in face to face engagement with the vertical wall portions 34 and 36 of said groove. The transverse inwardly extending flange portion I engages the top transverse wall portion 38 on the wall panel member, while the wall portion I on said eaves-forming member projects beyond the outer face of the vertical outer wall 33 of the wall panel member, as will be obvious from Fig. 2.

In my improved metal building, the transverse end wall portions 39 of the wall panel members are spaced slightly from the walls 26 of the columns, as will be evident from Fig. 4, and the eaves-forming member, which also constitutes a top connecting member for the elements .of the wall, bridges the gap between the column members and the wall panel members, as will be evi dent from Fig. 4.

It will be obvious from Figs. 2, 3 and 4 that the eaves-forming member constitutes means for firmly clamping the wall panel and column members to each other through the keeper members 29 and wedges 30, holding the same infixed position relative to each other both in a transverse and longitudinal direction with respect to the wall in which said eaves-forming members, wall panels and columns are used.

What I claim is:

1. In metal building structure, the combination with sheet metal wall panel and column members having aligning channels in the top walls thereof having wall portions depressed below the top edges of said panel and column members to provide longitudinal bottom walls for said channels, of a top connecting member having a depending hollow longitudinal rib thereon fitting in said channels with a portion of said rib in face to face engagement with said bottom wall and means for clamping said connecting member to said panel and column members in interfitting relation therewith comprising securing elements on said panel members.

2. In metal building structure, the combination with sheet metal wall panel and column members having aligning channels in the top walls thereof having wall portions depressed below the top edges of said panel and column members to provide longitudinal bottom walls for said channels, of a top connecting member having a depending hollow longitudinal rib thereon fitting in said channels with a portion of said rib in face to face engagement with said bottom wall and means for clamping said connecting member to said panel and column members' in interfitting relation therewith comprising securing elements on said panel members, said connecting member having an eavesforming portion extending laterally and upwardly from said hollow rib.

3. In metal building structure, the combination with a wall comprising sheet metal wall panel and column members having aligning channels in the top walls thereof extending longitudinally of said wall, said channels having bottom walls, of a top connecting member having a depending hollow longitudinal rib thereon fitting in said channels with a portion of said rib engaging the bottom walls of said channels, and means for clamping said connecting member to said panel and column members in interfitting relation therewith comprising securing elements on said panel members, said connecting member having an eaves-forming portion extending laterally and upwardly from said hollow rib and terminating'in a roof supporting portion.

4. In metal building structure, the combination with a wall comprising sheet metal wall panel and column members having aligning channels in the top walls thereof extending longitudinally .of said wall, said channels having bottom walls, of a top connecting member having a depending hollow longitudinal rib thereon fitting in said channels with a portion of said rib engaging the bottom walls of said channels, and.

means for clamping said connecting member to said panel and column members in interfitting relation therewith comprising securing elements on both said panel and column members, said connecting member having an upstanding wall at one side thereof comprising vertically extending portions connected by a horizontal portion to form an offset in said upstanding wall.

5. In metal building structure, the combination with sheet metal wall panel and column members having aligning channels in the top walls thereof, of a top connecting member having a depending hollow longitudinal rib thereon fitting in said channels and means for clamping said connecting member to said panel and column members in interfitting relation therewith comprising securing elements on both said panel and column members, said connecting member having an upstanding wall at one side thereof comprising vertically extending portions connected by a horizontal portion to form an v ofiset in said upstanding wall, and an upwardly and inwardly inclined roof supporting portion extending from said upstanding wall.

6. In metal building structure, the combination with sheet metal wall panel and column members having aligning channels in the top walls thereof, of a top connecting member having a depending hollow longitudinal ri-b thereon fitting in said channels and means for clamping said connecting member to said panel and column members in interfitting relation therewith comprising securing elements on both said panel and column members, said connecting member having an eaves-forming portion ex tending laterally and upwardly from said hollow rib, and a gutter carried by said eaves-forming member.

7. In metal building structure, the combination with a wall comprising sheet metal wall panel and column members having aligning channels in the top walls thereof extending longitudinally of said wall, said channels having bottom walls, of a top connecting member having a depending hollow longitudinal rib thereon fitting in said channels with a portion of said rib engaging the bottom walls of said channels, keeper members projecting upwardly from said bottom walls of said channels of both said columns and panel members, said rib having ope-nings through which said keeper members extend, and wedges engaging said keeper members and the top face of said hollow rib to clamp said top connecting member to both said panel and column members.

8. In a metal building structure, an eavesforming member comprising a transverse portion having a depending longitudinally extending hollow rib thereon, an upstanding portion at one side of said transverse portion having a lateral ofiset therein, and a portion extending upwardly and inwardly at an oblique angle from said upstanding portion.

CARL HENNING. 

